In 2018, reports Vanuatu’s Ministry of Finance and Treasury, CBI-related revenue reached such unprecedented levels that, for the first time in the country’s history, it displaced VAT-receipts as the government’s single biggest source of funds. “In 2018, revenue from the honorary citizenship programs overtook that of VAT for the first time. The Government remains careful

Opinion of the editor Citizenship by investment has granted small, developing countries in the Caribbean and Pacific the means to fund public spending independently, rather than rely on outside aid or loans. That financial autonomy reduces the influence developed countries have in these jurisdictions, which is one of the reasons they seek to restrain such

During this week’s Investment Migration Forum in Geneva, attended by more than 300 delegates representing industry stakeholders from around the world, Investment Migration Insider had the opportunity to get comments from several key industry figures, one of whom was Eric Major, Founding Partner of Latitude Consultants. Major indicated that Latitude, through its new cooperation with Arton

Opinion of the editor: Having concluded its Article IV consultation with Malta, the International Monetary Fund has given the country’s economic outlook a high rating – with certain reservations – and acknowledged the Malta Individual Investor Programme’s positive contribution to GDP and fiscal balance. In a press release discussing the consultation, the IMF states that

The IMF this week concluded their Article IV visit to Dominica, where the organization advised the Caribbean country to divert inflows from its Citizenship by Investment Programme away from current expenditure and toward debt reduction, investment, and saving instead, reports Jamaica Observer. The IMF pointed out that CIP-related income now accounted for as much as

While praising Cyprus for having achieved three straight years of economic expansion, a positive fiscal balance, and generally for emerging structurally more robust from the crisis of 2013, the IMF has expressed concern with extremely high rates of private debt and non-performing loans, as well as a potentially unsustainable tilting of economic activity toward the

It’s difficult to overstate the significance of citizenship by investment programs to Carribean economies. While there’s no way to measure with any degree of accuracy the indirect contribution CBI has on a country’s GDP – such as the employment created by new real estate developments and the added disposable income spent by those hired to

Local property developers’ protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, the Cypriot economy is in the black largely thanks to the country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme. It may have a flourishing tourist sector and recently discovered offshore gas reserves potentially worth US$50 billion but, as it stands, the country’s economic activity would indisputably be undergoing severe economic contraction

Following Canadian immigration authorities’ announcement to end Antigua & Barbuda’s visa-free access – to the shock and chagrin of much of the CIP industry – contours of the full extent of the implications are emerging. Just the beginning Eric Major, former CEO of Henley & Partners, told Investment Migration Insider he believes this development is the

Following discussions with the six member states of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) – five of which have citizenship by investment programs – the IMF’s Executive Board recommends closer cooperation between the region’s CIPs as a solution to falling revenues and as a means to mitigate reputational risk, according to a press release. Suggesting that